As we continue our Laser Squad week, we take a look at the homebrew missions that have been developed for the Spectrum…

Those resourceful chaps from Russia have only created their very own scenarios for Laser Squad. 13 extra missions are known to exist, saved as mere Z80 files which can be loaded as a snapshot straight into a Spectrum emulator. The missions themselves range from fairy easy to rock hard and, despite the odd translation issues, the missions are very enjoyable. Here is a list of all known missions with a brief summary on some of the better ones. And if you fancy trying your hand at creating a Laser Squad scenario then head over to the World of Spectrum to get one of the level editors. Be warned, though, as the language is in Russian and will require a Spectrum emulator compatible with TR-DOS.

1) Mafia

2) Blue Planet

In Blue Planet, the player takes control of Laser Squad with one officer in control of a squad of droids. There are some nifty new weapons to try out here, including the AK-55 Auto-gun, MZ-10D2, USI Las-gun and the MZ-10D8. Blue Planet features quite a large map area. Although there are no instructions or guide to the scenarios, this appears to be a ‘seek and destroy’ the databanks and analyzers mission. Just watch out for the gas canisters. The base has some long corridors as well, so don’t get caught napping down any of these. Unnervingly, there are some dead bodies lined up in one room that we encountered. There are also stacks of weapons that are abandoned near the deployment squares, which comes in handy. The disk is located in a room to the bottom centre of the map. Even on easy setting, don’t think this will be a walk in the park, as the enemy are rock hard and will ambush your troops from the very first two turns.

3) Rescue Rangers
4) The Aliens
5) Amazones
6) Coal Corp.

7) Biowar

In just 34 turns, your Assassin Squad must take on the Killer Squad in a survival of the fittest. Veteran Laser Squad Corporal Jonlan leads a team of privates along with four pre-equipped Razor Rats and Sterner Regnix. Yes, in what might pass as a prequel to the original Assassins scenario, Regnix is on the good side. Do keep Regnix alive, though, because if he dies then it’s game over.

There is some hi-tech weaponry to be found here, but at ludicrously high costs, considering your budget of only 200 credits: Marsec Auto-gun priced at 21 credits, Rocket Launcher at 30 credits and the desirable Fire Gun a whopping 50 credits. The enemy squad consists of killer droids and a ‘Killer Sterner’? As with the original scenario, you need to kill Sterner, the bad one that is.

Sometimes the Assassin squad sprites can be corrupted, but this does not hamper the gameplay too much. Watch out for the land mines scattered around the building complex, and yes, the mines are randomly placed for each mission – bugger. If you do splash out on a Fire Gun, keep you men some distance away, for obvious reasons. Also, don’t hang around outside as the bio mass grows and begins investing any open entrances to the buildings.

8] Dead City
9) Saboteur

10) The Melter Squad

Don’t let the rather amusing names within The Melter Squad distract you from a rather tough scenario. Here Officer Softhead and his crew take on the Assassin Squad led by Corporal Jonlan. This map features a ground base in a jungle setting, but something isn’t quite right. There is evidence of chaos in the buildings: demolished walls, blocked doors, dead bodies, droid remains, demolished consoles, monitors and weapons lie abandoned (including Melter packs, rocket launcher, heavy laser, rifle and a key).